Category — Bangladesh IT sector

BTTB - Bangladesh’s national internet service provider is considering lowering internet access rates a second time this year, reports the Daily Star New today. The rates were reduced once already this year and this second reduction is an attempt to make prices comparable to Indian rates. This will be a great boon to Bangladeshi IT entrepreneurs as high internet access rates is one of the major barriers to entering the software services industry. The chart below provides more info about the proposed rate reductions. The Finance ministry is currently reviewing the rate reduction and will likely approve these changes.

It is a hopeful sign to read the following story in the New Age that the finance ministry has approved BTRC’s (Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission) request to cut internet access rates by 20%. Although the new rates are significantly higher than in India or Pakistan, this signal’s the government’s interest in breathing energy into our IT sector. The full story is at the following link: http://www.newagebd.com/2008/jan/22/nat.html#1

I have also been reading in other publications, BTRC’s progressive steps towards legalizing VOIP in a way that provides consumers the best benefits of this technology without the government losing crores in revenue. Another interesting development is that India’s IT costs have risen several folds in the last few years. This makes Bangladesh more competitive and attractive.

The next development to watch out for is the auctioning of international gateway licenses by the BTRC in February. If the government continues to make the right moves in the IT sector, it is quite likely that our IT industry could grow by several folds in the next 3-5 years. Based on recent developments, we can be hopeful.